Potential of select yogurts for diabetes and hypertension management

Select brands of dairy and soy yogurt, enriched with strawberry, blueberry and peach, were screened for total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and inhibition of alpha-glucosidase, pancreatic alpha-amylase inhibition and the angiotensin converting enzyme-I (ACE-I). Blueberry yogurt had the highest phenolic content in all selected brands (A, 104 mu g/mL; B, 91 mu g/mL; C, 105 mu g/mL; D, 79 mu g/mL). Blueberry yogurt also had the highest activity in terms of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity (A, 93%; B, 82%; C, 93%; D, 80%) and alpha-glucosidase inhibition (A, 58%; B, 78%; C, 90%; D, 83%), which correlated to phenolic content. The alpha-amylase inhibitory activity was not correlated to any specific type of yogurt, whether it was plain, soy based or fruit enriched. alpha-Amylase inhibition ranged from 48 to 69% in brands that were plain or soy based and/or fruit enriched. However, with ACE-I inhibition, the highest activity was found in soy-based and fruit-enriched yogurts.